Reactor for reducing nitrogen oxides

ABSTRACT

A reactor for reducing the concentration of NOx in a stream comprising: an inlet for the stream; an outlet for a stream containing a reduced concentration of NOx; one or more catalyst beds comprising a ceramic or metallic foam with a NOx reduction catalyst; one or more flow paths from the inlet to the outlet that passes through at least one catalyst bed wherein the catalyst beds are closed at the top and bottom so that the flow path through the catalyst bed passes through the sides of the catalyst bed in a lateral flow is described.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a national stage application of International Application No.PCT/US2016/067655, filed 20 Dec. 2016, which claims benefit of priorityto U.S. Application No. 62/270,853, filed 22 Dec. 2015.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a reactor comprising one or more NO_(x)reduction catalysts on a ceramic or metallic foam and a method forreducing the NO_(x) concentration in a gas stream.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Oxides of nitrogen are common by-products and/or desirable intermediatesin a number of industrial processes, including the manufacture ofchemicals, such as nitric acid, or combustion processes in air. Nitrogenoxides of the formula NO and NO2 are typically referred to together asNO_(x). NO_(x) is a large scale pollutant and significant efforts havebeen made for the reduction of NO_(x) in exhaust gas streams fromprocesses in which they are produced. Processes for removal of NO_(x)from gas streams are generally referred to in the art as DeNO_(x)processes and the catalysts used therein as DeNO_(x) catalysts.

The prior art describes processes where the dust in a gas streamcontaining NOx that is to be treated is captured on the catalyst andthen removed from the catalyst by cleaning or another means. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,102 describes a reactor that is effectivefor reducing nitrogen oxides and dust from a flue gas stream. Thecatalyst is passed in a moving bed such that it contacts with the gasand entrains the dust. The catalyst is then passed through an outletwhere it is regenerated and the dust is removed. The patent teaches thatdust is preferably removed from the gases prior to removal of NO_(x) toprevent dust from accumulating on the surface of the catalyst bed and inthe interstices between the catalyst particles.

As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,699 describes a reactor where agas containing dust and NO_(x) is passed through a catalyst bed at asufficient velocity to fluidize the catalyst bed. Particulates depositedon the catalyst are abraided or elutriated away by fluidization toprevent fouling of the deNO_(x) catalyst. The patent teaches that dustloadings of 10-50 mg/Nm³ are too high to permit long service life of acommercially available deNO_(x) catalyst.

In addition, a number of patents and published applications relate tothe use of ceramic foams for treating diesel engine exhaust gases. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,477 describes a ceramic foam filter thathas the capacity to trap substantially all soot present in the exhaustgas stream.

Fixed bed catalyst systems can provide the removal of NOx from processstreams at lower temperatures due to their excellent activity; however,they also tend to trap a majority of the particulates in the gas streamand hence experience rapid pressure drop increases. On the other hand,honeycomb catalyst systems allow particulate matter to pass througheasily, but they have much lower activity and therefore require muchhigher temperatures of operation. It would be preferred to provide acatalyst and a process that allowed for the efficient removal of NOxfrom particulate-containing gas streams at low temperatures while at thesame time allowing a majority of the dust to pass through the catalystbed and not be trapped on the catalyst.

The reactor can also be configured in such a way to prevent the dustfrom accumulating on the fixed bed NOx reduction catalyst.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a reactor for reducing the concentration ofNO_(x) in a stream comprising: an inlet for the stream; an outlet for astream containing a reduced concentration of NO_(x); one or morecatalyst beds comprising a ceramic or metallic foam with a NO_(x)reduction catalyst; one or more flow paths from the inlet to the outletthat passes through at least one catalyst bed wherein the catalyst bedsare closed at the top and bottom so that the flow path through thecatalyst bed passes through the sides of the catalyst bed in a lateralflow.

The invention also provides a method for reducing the concentration ofNO_(x) in a dust containing gas stream comprising: passing a first gasstream containing NO_(x) into a reactor comprising one or more catalystbeds; contacting the first gas stream with ceramic or metallic foamcatalyst beds having interconnected pores that provide a lateral flowpath through the catalyst bed wherein the catalyst bed comprises aNO_(x) reduction catalyst to produce a second gas stream with a reducedNO_(x) concentration; and passing the second gas stream out of thecontacting zone wherein the first gas stream has a dust concentration ofat least 5 mg/Nm³ and the second gas stream comprises at least 50% ofthe amount of dust in the first gas stream.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 displays the results of Example 1

FIG. 2 displays the results of Example 2

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of the lateral flow reactor (LFR).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The ceramic or metallic foam catalyst bed of the present inventionallows the particulates in the gas stream to pass through while treatingthe gas to reduce NO_(x). This catalyst is useful to treat exhaust gasfrom industrial complexes. The ceramic foams that have been describedfor use in emission control of automobile engines have high pores perinch to trap the soot and particulates. The foams of the presentinvention have lower pores per inch. The term “dust” as used hereincomprises any small particulates that can potentially remain behind onthe catalyst bed as the gas stream passes through.

The foam of the present invention allows a majority of the dust to passthrough without plugging the system while treating the exhaust gas toremove NO_(x). The catalyst bed of the present invention is especiallyuseful to treat exhaust gas from industrial processes, and stationaryturbines.

Further, when this catalyst is used in catalyst modules in a lateralflow arrangement a lower pressure drop is achieved which is a key factorin treating exhaust gas streams. A catalyst module is a container thatholds one or more catalyst beds which are typically in parallelarrangement. The catalyst beds may be very thin and they can be stackedside by side in the Lateral Flow Reactor (LFR). The thin nature of thecatalyst bed allows for a lower pressure drop which is advantageous influe gas treatment applications. In addition, the thin layer of ceramicor metallic foam makes it easier for dust to pass through without beingtrapped in the foam. A thick foam has a higher likelihood of pluggingwith dust and particulates. A result of using a plurality of very thinlayers of foam is that it provides a higher flow area and a lower ratioof dust concentration to frontal surface area of the foam. This willreduce the likelihood of plugging at the face of the catalyst bed andlower the pressure drop across the foam because, according to Darcy'slaw, pressure drop is inversely proportional to the flow area of afilter.

Due to the tortuous channels inside the foam structure, the gasmolecules are mixed after entering the channels and the diffusion toactive catalytic sites on the foam surface is enhanced. On the otherhand, typical honeycomb catalyst or other monoliths with straightchannel flow paths have a limited diffusion with active catalytic sites.This is further impacted if the linear velocity of the gas stream islow, for example, less than 20 m/s which results in a laminar flow.

In this reactor, gas enters the reactor in numerous gas inlet channelswhich are blocked at the opposite end. The gas must then travellaterally through fixed catalyst beds to reach the outlet channels.

The individual catalyst beds have a lateral thickness (i.e., across thebed in the direction of gas flow) of less than 15 cm, preferably lessthan 10 cm. The individual catalyst beds preferably have a lateralthickness of from 2.5 to 15 cm, preferably of from 4 to 10 cm.

In the reactor, the gas stream passes from the inlet, through one ormore catalyst beds and to the outlet of the reactor. In one embodiment,the gas stream only passes through one catalyst bed as it goes from theinlet to the outlet.

One embodiment of a lateral flow reactor (LFR) is shown in FIG. 3. TheLFR may be a vessel of any shape that contains one or more sets ofcatalyst beds. For example, the gas stream can pass through one catalystbed and then pass through another catalyst bed located downstream of thefirst catalyst bed. In FIG. 3, the reactor 1 has an inlet for flue gas 2and an outlet for treated gas 3. The flue gas passes from the inlet 2through entrance zone 4 and into the flow inlet area 7. The flue gaspasses through one of the fixed catalyst beds 6 and into the flow outletarea 8. The fixed catalyst beds are closed at both ends. The side wallsof the fixed catalyst beds are gas permeable. The treated gas then flowsto the outlet 3. The catalyst beds and flow outlet areas 8 are blockedfrom the entrance zone 4 by closing plates 9 to prevent the flow frombypassing the catalyst beds. An additional closing plate 15 is locatedbetween the catalyst beds and the wall of the reactor. The gas flowslaterally through the catalyst beds.

The ceramic foam may comprise any ceramic material that can providesufficient strength and provides a suitable carrier for the NO_(x)reduction catalyst. The ceramic foam preferably comprises cordierite,titanium oxide, alumina or mixtures thereof.

The metallic foam may, likewise, comprise any metallic material that canprovide sufficient strength and is also a suitable carrier for theNO_(x) reduction catalyst. The metallic foam preferably comprisesnickel, iron, aluminum, chromium or alloys thereof.

In one embodiment, a ceramic foam may be made by filling the pores of afoamed polymer, for example, polyurethane, with an aqueous slurry ofceramic, for example, Al2O3, ZrO2. The slurry may contain 0.1 to 10 μmdiameter particles in water, with appropriate amounts of wetting agents,dispersion stabilizers and viscosity modifiers. The wet foam is driedand calcined in air at temperatures above 1000° C. The polymer vaporizesor burns and the ceramic particles sinter. In another embodiment, theviscosity of the slurry may be increased by adding thickening agents.This method is further described in J. T. Richardson, Properties ofCeramic Foam Catalyst Supports: Pressure Drop, Applied Catalysis A:General 204 (2000) 19-32 which is herein incorporated by reference.

In one embodiment, a metallic foam may be made by a powder metallurgicalprocess that converts nickel or iron foams into a high-temperaturestable alloy. In this process, the nickel or iron foam is continuouslyunwound, coated first with a binder solution using a spraying techniqueand then with a high alloyed powder. After, the foam is cut into sheetsof the desired size. This method is further described in G. Walther etal, A New PM Process for Manufacturing of Alloyed Foams for HighTemperature Applications, PM 2010 World Congress—Foams and PorousMaterials which is herein incorporated by reference.

The foam has a void space of at least 60%, preferably at least 70% andmore preferably at least 80%. Void space is defined as the volume of thestructure that is open divided by the total volume of the structure(openings and ceramic or metallic) multiplied by 100.

The ceramic and metallic foams have an interconnected internal tortuouspore structure. This may also be referred to as having a reticulatedstructure. This structure results in a flow of gases through the foamthat is turbulent which leads to improved contact with the catalystcompared to the laminar flow inside honeycomb channels.

The tortuosity of the ceramic or metallic foam is preferably greaterthan 1.0, more preferably greater than 1.5 and most preferably greaterthan 2.0. Tortuosity may be calculated as the ratio of the length of theflow path taken by the gas through the ceramic or metallic foam dividedby the length of the shortest straight line path from the inlet to theoutlet of the ceramic or metallic foam. A straight channel path has atortuosity of 1.0.

The ceramic or metallic foam has from about 5 to about 50 pores perinch, preferably from about 10 to about 30 pores per inch. The pores perinch of the foam impacts the ability of the foam to allow dust to passthrough the catalyst bed.

In one embodiment, the metallic foam has a density in the range of from0.4 to 0.75 g/cm3. This provides a lightweight foam that can be used totreat these gases.

Any NO_(x) reduction catalyst may suitably be used in the process of thepresent invention, for example those described in U.S. Pat. No.6,419,889. An exemplary catalyst from U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,889 comprisesa titania carrier and one or more metal compounds selected from thegroup consisting of vanadium, molybdenum and tungsten. In oneembodiment, the NO_(x) reduction catalyst is a vanadium on titaniacatalyst. In another embodiment, the NO_(x) reduction catalyst is avanadium and tungsten on titania catalyst.

Other suitable catalysts include oxides of metals such as aluminum,copper, iron, cobalt, tin, chromium, nickel, manganese, titanium,silver, platinum, rhodium, palladium or mixtures thereof. The metaloxides may be supported on any conventional carrier or other material,for example, alumina, silicon-alumina, magnesia-alumina, titania,alumina, calcium oxide-alumina, chromium oxide-alumina, orsilica-chromium oxide-alumina.

In addition, zeolitic catalysts containing copper or iron may be usedfor NO_(x) reduction. One preferred example is iron-exchanged zeolitebeta. The zeolitic catalyst may comprise other metals such as platinum,ruthenium, palladium, osmium, rhodium or mixtures thereof.

The catalyst may have a surface area measured by nitrogen adsorption ofbetween about 70 m²/g and about 150 m²/g. The catalyst may have abimodal pore distribution with more than 90% of the pore volume presentin pores having a diameter of at most about 100 nm, where the porevolume is considered to be the pore volume present in pores having adiameter between about 1 nm and about 104 nm.

The catalyst can be made by impregnating or deposition of a carrier withthe metal compound(s) after drying and calcining the carrier or afterextruding, then drying and then calcining the carrier. The impregnationmay be carried out by contacting the carrier with an aqueous solution ofthe metal compound(s). In one embodiment, a metal oxalate solution canbe used for the impregnation. The catalyst can also be made byco-mulling the carrier along with metal compounds to form a solidmixture. The catalyst formed according to these methods can be grindedor milled to a certain particle size distribution in a slurry before itis applied by coating on the ceramic or metallic foam.

Another method for adding the catalyst to the foam is deposition of thecatalyst by pore volume impregnation of the carrier and then depositingthe impregnated carrier on the foam. A further method comprises making awashcoat slurry of the metals, for example, titanium and vanadium andthen depositing that on the foam.

The NO_(x) reduction catalyst may also comprise a binder material whichhelps bind the catalyst to the support and/or to the ceramic or metallicfoam.

The method for reducing the concentration of NO_(x) in a particulatecontaining gas stream comprises passing a first gas stream containingNO_(x) into a contacting zone. The gas stream may come from a number ofsources including power plants, thermal cracking furnaces, incinerators,metallurgical plants, fertilizer plants and chemical plants. The gasstream comprises a significant level of dust.

The gas stream comprises at least 5 mg/Nm³ of dust. The method of thepresent invention can handle gas streams with at least 10 mg/Nm³ ofdust. The method is capable of handling gas streams with at least 20mg/Nm³ of dust, preferably at least 30 mg/Nm³ of dust and morepreferably at least 70 mg/Nm³ of dust.

The gas stream is contacted with a ceramic or metallic foam catalyst bedwherein the catalyst bed comprises a NO_(x) reduction catalyst toproduce a second gas stream. The catalyst bed has one or more flow pathsthrough the catalyst bed that enables contact between the gas stream andthe NO_(x) reduction catalyst.

The reduction of NO_(x) in the gas stream can occur at a pressure in therange of from 0 kPa to 1200 kPa and at a temperature in the range offrom 100° C. to 400° C. The temperature is preferably in a range of from100° C. to 350° C., more preferably of from 100° C. to 250° C. and mostpreferably of from 140° C. to 220° C.

Many catalysts require higher temperatures to achieve a high conversionof NO_(x). It is preferred to use a catalyst that has high activity andselectivity at the temperatures described above so that lowertemperatures can be used. Under the contacting conditions, the NO_(x)reduction catalyst can remove at least a majority of the NO_(x) bychemical conversion. The second gas stream contains at most 40% of theNO_(x) present in the feed gas stream. This second gas stream containsat most 25% of the NO_(x) present in the first gas stream, preferably atmost 5% of the NO_(x) present in the first gas stream and morepreferably at most 1% of the NO_(x) present in the first gas stream.

The second gas stream contains at least 50% of the dust that was presentin the first gas stream that was fed to the catalyst bed. The second gasstream preferably comprises at least 60% of the dust that was present inthe first gas stream and more preferably at least 80% of the dust thatwas present in the first gas stream.

EXAMPLES Example 1

In this example, a fixed catalyst bed of deNOx catalyst pellets (A) anda fixed catalyst bed of ceramic foam deNOx catalyst (B) were tested todetermine the effect of passing a gas stream with a high dust loadingthrough the catalyst bed. The catalyst pellets were 3.2 mm trilobeshaped pellets. The ceramic foam deNOx catalyst had 18 pores per inch.The test was carried out in a dust filtration lab and comprised passingair containing dust at a concentration of 70 mg/Nm³ through the catalystbed. The average particle size of the dust was 1 micron. The sameparticles and concentration were used to compare the two types ofcatalyst beds. The pressure drop across the catalyst bed at ambienttemperature and pressure was measured. The results of this test areshown in FIG. 1 where the back pressure is plotted as a function of timein minutes during which the air stream containing dust was passedthrough the catalyst bed.

As can be seen from the figure, the ceramic foam catalyst initially hada lower backpressure than the catalyst pellets. Further, as the dust waspassed through the catalyst beds, the backpressure of the ceramic foamincreased only slightly, while the backpressure of the pellet catalystincreased rapidly to the maximum system design pressure. At this point,the catalyst pellets would have had to be cleaned before they couldcontinue to be used.

In addition to measuring the backpressure, the amount of dust thatpassed through the ceramic foam catalyst bed was measured. Initially,when the testing started, 60% of the dust entering the ceramic foampassed through the catalyst bed. After the air stream had passed throughthe ceramic foam catalyst bed for a given time, the amount of dustpassing through the foam was determined to be 64%. This example showsthat the ceramic foam catalyst bed can be operated under high-dustconditions, and that the catalyst pellets cannot be operated effectivelyunder high-dust conditions.

Example 2

In this example, three catalysts were tested to determine their activityfor NOx conversion. The first test (C) used a ceramic foam catalyst with30 pores per inch. The second test (D) used a ceramic foam catalyst with18 pores per inch. The third test (E) used 3.2 mm trilobe shapedcatalyst pellets. The test was carried out in a fixed bed reactor withthe same volume of catalyst loading for all three tests. The spacevelocity for all three tests was maintained at a constant 22,000 hr-1and the tests were carried out at ambient O2 with the balance beingnitrogen. The concentration of NO before and after the catalyst bed wasmonitored separately using an FTIR instrument. The results of theexample are displayed in FIG. 2. As can be seen from the figure, ceramicfoam has a comparable activity to the catalyst pellets and a higheractivity than the catalyst pellets at higher temperatures.

These examples show that the ceramic foam catalyst can be used toeffectively reduce the level of NOx in a gas stream, and further thatthe ceramic foam catalyst bed can be used under high-dust conditions.

That which is claimed is:
 1. A method for reducing a concentration ofNO_(x) in a dust containing gas stream comprising: a. feeding a firstgas stream containing NO_(x) into a reactor in a first flow direction,wherein the reactor comprises a contacting zone having one or morecatalyst beds; b. contacting the first gas stream with a ceramic ormetallic foam catalyst disposed within the one or more catalyst beds andhaving interconnected pores that provide a lateral flow path through theone or more catalyst beds, wherein the ceramic or metallic catalystcomprises a NO_(x) reduction catalyst configured to produce a second gasstream with a reduced NO_(x), concentration, and wherein contacting thefirst gas stream with the ceramic or metallic foam catalyst comprisespassing the first gas stream through the one or more catalyst beds in asecond flow direction that is different from the first flow direction;and c. passing the second gas stream out of the contacting zone, whereinthe first gas stream has a dust concentration of at least 5 mg/Nm³ andthe second gas stream comprises at least 50% of the amount of dust inthe first gas stream.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first gasstream has a dust concentration of at least 10 mg/Nm³.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first gas stream has a dust concentration of atleast 20 mg/Nm³.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first gas streamhas a dust concentration of at least 30 mg/Nm³.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the first gas stream has a dust concentration of at least 70mg/Nm³.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second gas streamcomprises at least 60% of the amount of dust in the first gas stream. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the second gas stream comprises at least80% of the amount of dust in the first gas stream.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the contacting occurs at a temperature in the range offrom 100 to 250° C.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the contactingoccurs at a temperature in the range of from 140 to 220° C.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the ceramic or metallic foam catalyst hasfrom 5 to 50 pores per inch.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein theceramic or metallic foam catalyst has from 10 to 30 pores per inch. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein the first flow direction is orthogonal tothe second flow direction.
 13. The method of claim 1, comprising passingthe second gas stream out of the contacting zone and into an outlet areaof the reactor in the first flow direction.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein the first gas stream is generated from an industrial process.15. The method of claim 1, comprising blocking a flow of the first gasstream and the second gas stream through a first end and a second end ofthe ceramic or metallic foam catalyst, respectively, wherein the firstend is adjacent to an outlet area of the reactor and the second end isadjacent to an entrance zone of the reactor.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein contacting the first gas stream with the ceramic or metallicfoam catalyst comprises flowing the first gas stream into and through afirst side wall of the ceramic or metallic foam catalyst and flowing thesecond gas stream out through a second side wall of the ceramic ormetallic foam catalyst, wherein the first side wall and the second sidewall are disposed between and extend from the first end to the secondend of the ceramic or metallic foam catalyst.
 17. The method of claim 1,wherein a density range of the ceramic or metallic foam catalyst isbetween 0.4 to 0.75 grams/cubic centimeter (g/cm³).
 18. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the contacting occurs at a pressure range of from 0kilopascals (kPa) to 1200 kPa.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein asurface area of the NO_(x), reduction catalyst is between approximately70 square meters/gram (m²/g) and 150 m²/g.
 20. The method of claim 1,wherein the NO_(x), reduction catalyst has a bimodal distribution havingmore than 90% of a pore volume present in pores having a diameter of atmost 100 nanometers (nm).
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the porevolume is present in pores having a diameter of between approximately 1nm and approximately 104 nm.